quagmire
Americannoun
-
an area of miry or boggy ground whose surface yields under the tread; a bog.
-
a situation from which extrication is very difficult.
a quagmire of financial indebtedness.
- Synonyms:
- jam, scrape, quandary, dilemma, predicament
-
anything soft or flabby.
noun
-
a soft wet area of land that gives way under the feet; bog
-
an awkward, complex, or embarrassing situation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of quagmire
Explanation
A quagmire is a dangerous place, like the muddy shoreline of a pond. Because it's so hard to climb out of a quagmire, the word has also come to mean any difficult or sticky situation you find yourself in. Long ago, quag was a synonym for "bog" or "marsh," a swampy area where water seems to sit instead of drain out. Mire is another word to describe such a place. As a verb mire means "stuck," like someone who's mired in quicksand or mired in work — both prevent you from going anywhere. In a quagmire, you get stuck physically — or, even more commonly, in a situation that is hard to escape because there is no easy solution.
Vocabulary lists containing quagmire
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Hamilton
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40 SAT words Beginning with "Q"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the face of a financial quagmire, why not throw up a few glow sticks?
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
"We are in a quagmire, and even when something feels real, you have to be suspicious of it," she says.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Even when pressed on the potential impact of a "quagmire" scenario in the Gulf that would curtail oil and jet fuel exports for several more months, executives did not appear overly alarmed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Powell, is currently stuck in a Senate quagmire.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
Once I ran into a flat piece of bottom land, and what seemed solid earth by the light of the moon was a marshy quagmire.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
He has expressed disdain for previous U.S. wars abroad that have devolved into quagmires, promising that the country wouldn’t get bogged down in such conflicts under his leadership.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
Each week, I extract quite a few homeowners from wretched remodeling or homebuilding quagmires via phone or video call.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
“Here, dawn quagmires lit by dots of orange flame and troops mad-eyed with animal fear register both as fine cinema and potent fury,” Leigh said.
From New York Times ● Feb. 19, 2023
Dealing with talent egos and political quagmires requires the kind of finesse at which Iger excelled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2022
Straggling, unpaved roads, which became treacherous quagmires with each infrequent rainfall, were the only means of getting from one village to another.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
